WEBVTT

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[ saw buzzing ]

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DAVID ALTMEJD: I don't need to make sketches
of the sculptures I make

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because I don't think
that there's a lot of difference

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Between putting ink
on a piece of paper

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and gluing little pieces
of crystal

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on plexiglas in space.

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I don't do drawings,

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because I have other materials
that I find interesting.

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95% of the relationship
I have to my work

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is through process.

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It's not as a distant object.
It's a made object.

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I like the idea
of trusting the work,

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trusting the material,
and trusting

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that every little step
is gonna dictate the next one.

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I have to give it a structure.
That's on me.

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But then at a certain point,

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the material behaves
in such unpredictable ways

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that I find beautiful.

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[ sighs ]

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I'm interested in science

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the same way I'm interested
in art,

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with a sort of childlike
fascination.

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I realized very early
in my studies in science

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that I wasn't interested
in learning a language.

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I was really interested
in inventing languages.

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I figured out that art would be
the perfect place for me

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because what's encouraged
is the invention of languages.

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Even when I was a kid
and was making drawing,

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what I found fascinating
is that I was able

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to make whatever I want
exist in this world

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and have people react to it.

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I've always felt different,
I mean, for many reasons.

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My father comes
from eastern Europe,

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I'm Jewish, and I'm gay.

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But when you're young
and you realize

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that you have an ease
at something

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or a talent for something,

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it gives you confidence.

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It's minty.
It smells like mint.

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It's true, because they use–
that's what they use

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at the dentist to take
the imprint of your–

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It's not toxic, you know?

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[ exhales ]

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When I make a sculpture,
I deal with the material first.

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Then I try to inject
my sensibility in it.

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I try to give a certain flavor
to the sculpture.

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That's how I make color choices,
for example.

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I see the importance
of the choice of colors

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as changing everything
inside the sculpture.

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I'm extremely attracted
to pastel colors,

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but they have to be
dirty in some way.

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I like the combination
of lavender and pink

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and maybe mint green,

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but then there has to be

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some kind of dirty brown
green in it...

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Just to kind of infect
the prettiness.

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Then I feel like I've found
exactly the right balance.

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I don't want the sculpture
that I make

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to be a mere illustration.

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I try to build an object

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that's gonna become complex
enough, have enough layers,

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have enough references
and energy

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to start feeling
like it's alive...

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That it's developing
the capacity

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of generating its own meaning.

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And then I can look at it
from a distance

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and learn from it,

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because I can almost see it say
or hear it say

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things that I never thought.

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These are meant
to resemble bees.

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Actually, in that piece,

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what I'm gonna try
to be doing is

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accumulate a lot
of small elements

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that are sort of referential,
figurative elements–

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bees, insects, needles–

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and accumulate them to the point

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where that swarm
that I'm going to create

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is going to become
a sort of abstract shape.

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So I want to start

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by figurative, recognizable,
small, detailed elements

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and combine them to make
something that becomes abstract.

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Very often,
it's the other way around.

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The more you zoom in,
the more abstract it becomes.

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In that case, I want to start
with a large abstract shape,

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and when you zoom in,

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you actually start recognizing
things more and more.

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[train rumbling on tracks]

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[ saw buzzing ]

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[ saw buzzing ]

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When I make sculpture,
what I'm trying to do is

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make an object that's going
to feel like it's alive.

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I'm not interested
in re-presenting life.

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I'm more interested
in making objects

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that sort of function
like living things,

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so they'll feel
like they're alive.

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When I put my hands on it
or when I make holes in it

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and drag plaster
through that hole,

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it's really to inject
an energy in it.

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So I kind of like that contrast

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between the fact
that a hole through the chest

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might be interpreted
as meaning death,

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but in my mind,
it's actually the opposite

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it should not even,
like, be flush.

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it should be lower,

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Because, if you can imagine,

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if I put plaster on it
and it's flush with the surface,

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then I–that means there will be
such a thin layer of plaster

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that, like, just that
is gonna make it crack.

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- Yeah.

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- Take it down, like,
at least 1/8 inch.

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- All right.
- Right?

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- Yeah.
- Thanks.

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[ scraping sounds ]

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[scraping sounds]

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This one is part of a series
that I started a year ago

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called "The Watchers."

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[ saw buzzing ]


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"The Watchers" are some kind
of angel figures.

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they're not necessarily
winged figure,

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like the cliche of the angel,

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but the ears have something
a little bit winglike.

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[ saw buzzing ]

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I'm also interested
in openings, orifices.

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a body that would be filled
with orifices

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that usually have the purpose
of hearing sound

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was interesting as well.

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The idea of senses.

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Sometimes their bodies
are covered in hands;

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that's the idea of the touch.

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And if they're covered in ears,

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I like the idea that they're–

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become like a body that would be
ultrasensitive with sound.

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[sighs]

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I think faster than I can speak.

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My brain is not the best when it
comes to verbal language.

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but it seems like
I'm very comfortable

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using matter and placing things.

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It feels like my brain
is totally in sync.

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Sometimes I feel like
there's brains in my hands.

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"The Vessel," there's something
almost religious about it,

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and it's really making a very
strong reference to the body

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in its symmetrical shape.

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The way it's radiating feels
almost Catholic in some way.

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I can see it going
in that direction,

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the idea of a center of energy

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and radiation of that energy
and the body,

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something that wasn't
as clear before in my work.

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Because of the fact
that it's not symmetrical,

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I feel like the swarm
becomes more like a landscape

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and less like a body.

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That shape floating in space
is very soft.

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That almost looks like
a cloud somehow.

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But they're, at the same time,
aggressive.

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Every element in that swarm
has the potential to sting you.

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I found that combination

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of the softness
of that abstract cloud shape

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and that aggressive potential
to be really nice, that balance.

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The vessel and the swarm
are big enough

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to be considered
like laboratories

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inside of which I try things,
I combine materials in new ways,

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I make mistakes,
I come up with new ideas.

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The work has developed
enough complexity and layers

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and intelligence
and independence

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that it's able to generate
itself and transform itself.

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